Nine individuals are on trial in China for buying a kidney from a teenager who was looking for money to buy Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) popular iPad and iPhone.

The 17-year-old surnamed "Zheng" had no college degree and would have made only around 1-1.5k RMB (CN¥) ($157-236 USD) per month, hence requiring several months of hard work (assuming he could save all his money) to pay for the slick devices. Instead, the teenager chose to make a rash decision and sold his kidney in an illegal operation to purchase the slick status symbol. The kidney was transplanted into a person of unknown nationality who has looked to skip donor wait lists via the black market.

When his mother found out, she was furious and retained a lawyer. Her lawyer is requesting 2.27M RMB (CN¥) (~$357K USD) in compensation.

Prosecutors in the Beihu district court in the inland southeastern province of Hunan said that those involved "should be held criminally liable for intentional injury". A 2010 U.S. State Department report estimates that 99.9 percent of people who stand trial in China are found guilty.

A Chinese teen made the ultimate sacrifice for his i-products.
[Image Source: The Oatmeal; used with permission]

Surgeon Song Zhongyu reportedly made 52,000 RMB ($8,175 USD) off the transplant; Su Kaizong, the hospital urology dept. contractor, scored 60,000 yuan ($9,430 USD); and the go-between man He Wei received 56,360 ($8,860 USD). He Wei is described as a man "penniless and frustrated over gambling debts."

Two other defendants also received smaller cuts -- their role was unclear. Two nurses, a surgical assistant, and an anesthesiologist from the hospital have also been charged for their roles in the operation, though it's unclear how much illegal compensation (if any) they received. The victim received only 22,000 RMB (CN¥) ($3,460 USD), only about a tenth of the total money scored by the hospital staff.

That takes the defendant total to 9 individuals -- most of which have close ties to the district hospital.

The hearing has finished and the defendants and prosecutors are now awaiting the verdict, which will almost certainly be "guilty".

Black market organ trade has been widely reported to be occuring in China, but this is one of the first times the issue has received significant attention from Xinhua, China's state-run news agency.

The human body can adapt to the loss of a kidney, but the problem posed by black market operations is that individuals are typically not screened for health risks [source] that could be inacerbated by the donation. In the worst case, donation from an unhealthy donor could lead to failure of their remaining kidney, illness, and even death.

Actually it is funny, when you understand why. Its a reference to Apples 'everyone is copying me' Android lawsuits. It's funny because its laughably improbable in anoyone but Apples eyes, amongst other reasons.

I've been on this site only a few hours, so I have no idea of this guys track record, but yeesh, you lot are being a bit harsh at a slightly off-color but funny joke aren't you?

As I will agree the joke wasn't funny I will not agree with everyone being such a damn sally and getting mad at you. I am so tired of the P.C. BS. Everyone tip toes on EVERYTHING and no one can take a damn joke anymore. Funny or not it was a JOKE. The child isn't dead. Frigging chill out people! The kid is obviously a complete and utter idiot. Joke away.

"Intel is investing heavily (think gazillions of dollars and bazillions of engineering man hours) in resources to create an Intel host controllers spec in order to speed time to market of the USB 3.0 technology." -- Intel blogger Nick Knupffer